上古卷轴传奇：

An Elder Scrolls Legend:

战斗尖塔

Battlespire

战斗尖塔（Battlespire）是帝国的训练机构，旨在培养有志于成为战斗法师（Battlemage）的帝国精英，位于湮灭位面（Oblivion）魔族^[1] 疆域的边缘地带。主角来到战斗尖塔，本想接受最后的试炼，不料魔族侵略者早已攻占此地。一进大门，后路就被封印堵住。主角别无选择，唯有杀出血路。

这部《上古卷轴传奇：战斗尖塔（An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire）》原本是《上古卷轴 2：匕首雨（Daggerfall）》的扩展内容，后来作为一款独立游戏对外发布。游戏围绕高达 7 层的战斗尖塔及内部交错纵横的湮灭区域展开。游戏的角色、职业系统与前作如出一辙，但种族系统有所删减，只剩下六个可选种族^[2] 。此外，相较前作，《战斗尖塔》删掉了很多内容：休息、金钱、商店等^[3] 。不过，鉴于身边魔族环伺，主角也没有时间休息。想要获得物资，要么就地取材，要么搜刮尸体。值得一提的是，本作的搜刮机制是游戏随机性的唯一体现。与《匕首雨》的地下城不同，本作复杂的地下城地图全是手工制作，所以不会出现主角误入程序误生成的迷宫，而后活活困死的惨剧。

与困死在迷宫相比，玩家更大几率会在战斗中一命呜呼。

论敌人难度，《战斗尖塔》比《匕首雨》高得多。只有比敌人技高一筹，主角才能保住小命。不过听好了，与《匕首雨》相比，《战斗尖塔》也许动作性更强、开放性更弱，但这不代表本作除了杀戮之外一无所有。玩家有许多打听敌人、盟友信息的机会。你没有听错——盟友！并非所有魔族都是十恶不赦之徒，并非所有魔族都认同梅鲁涅斯大兖（Mehrunes Dagon）^[4] 的征服计划。玩家摆出一副不可一世的姿态，凡事诉诸暴力，确实也能玩得下去，但如果对本可利用的政治内斗视若罔闻，那未免太傻了。

The Battlespire is a training centre for aspiring Imperial Battlemages, built into a secret corner of the Daedric realm of Oblivion. When you enter the premises to take your final test, you discover that the academy has been taken over by Daedric invaders! Now a seal blocks the portal you entered by, it looks like your only way out of this nightmare is through battle.

Originally planned as an add-on to Daggerfall, Battlespire was published as a stand-alone game. All the action takes place in the seven levels of the Battlespire and the regions of Oblivion intertwined with it. The character and class creation system is classic Elder Scrolls, even if only six player races made the cut. Also missing are the rest: function, gold and shops. But it's not as if sleep was a good idea, anyway, with all those Daedric minions breathing down your neck. And if you need more equipment, find it onsite or take it off dead bodies. By the way, loot is the only randomised instance in Battlespire: Unlike the Daggerfall dungeons, the complex maps here are entirely handcrafted, so you won't end up starving in a misbuilt labyrinth.

No, you'll pretty likely die in combat instead.

Enemies in the Battlespire are a lot tougher than those you encountered in Daggerfall. You need to outmanoeuvre hostiles if you want to survive. Now, don't get me wrong: Battlespire may be more actionoriented and linear than Daggerfall, but it's not all about bloodshed. You'll have plenty of opportunity to get to know the invaders and make allies. Yes, you read that right: allies. Not all Daedra are evil, nor does everyone agree with Mehrunes Dagon's plans of conquest. While you can get far by being impolite or just resorting to violence, you would be a fool to not take advantage of all the political intrigue going on.

《战斗尖塔》发行后，Bethesda 发行了另一部上古卷轴的衍生作——《上古卷轴冒险：红卫人（The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard）》，这是一款 3D 动作冒险游戏。这款游戏大受欢迎，皮肤黝黑的红卫主角最让人印象深刻。

After Battlespire Bethesda released another spin-off: The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, a 3D action-adventure game. Warmly received, the game's most memorable feature was its black protagonist.

此外，本作遵循已有的《上古卷轴》世界观（lore），并加以完善。如果你已经玩过《上古卷轴 4：湮灭（Oblivion）》，对魔神梅鲁涅斯大兖所在的魔族位面、大兖本尊及其麾下感兴趣的话，《战斗尖塔》绝对不容错过。

我唯一的不满在于游戏的 bug 令人抓狂。虽然本作要比漏洞百出的《匕首雨》好得多，但有些 bug 会强制你回到战斗尖塔的第一层，一切重头开始。所以玩游戏前，务必安装补丁。不过如果为了这点瑕疵，就将这款集趣味性、挑战性于一体的游戏束之高阁，那绝对是因小失大。剧情扑朔迷离、声优功底深厚，对话构思精巧，如果错过，实在是天大的损失。

Furthermore, Battlespire adds to and draws on established Elder Scrolls lore. Enjoyed Oblivion and want to learn more about the Daedric realm, Mehrunes Dagon and his infighting court? Play Battlespire!

My only gripe are the bugs. While it's not the bugfest Daggerfall was, some might force you to start levels all over again, so be sure to patch it. But don't you dare ignore this fun and demanding game just because of this. The scheming, the voice acting and the dialogue options are too brilliant to miss out on.

战斗与《匕首雨》类似，武器攻击由鼠标控制。

Combat is similar to Daggerfall, with the mouse movement controlling the weapons' attacks.

玩家可以选择预设的职业，也可自建职业：自定义属性值、天赋与软肋，购买初始装备、初始物品与初始法术。

You can pick a pre-made class or create your own, customising stats, advantages and disadvantages, as well as buying your starting equipment, items and spells.

__________

¹ 译者注：魔族/迪德拉（Daedra）。迪德拉与圣灵/伊德拉（Aedra）相区分，分别为“非吾辈祖先”与“吾辈之祖先”。按照上古卷轴系列的创世神话，人们尊称那些牺牲自己、造化奈恩大陆的神灵为伊德拉，其余未参与创世的神灵为迪德拉（这是较为笼统的解释，存在例外）。此外，迪德拉是统称，既包括魔神，也包括一切生活在迪德拉位面的生物。所以，此魔族非彼魔族（后者包括恶魔、魔鬼等）。
² 译者注：《战斗尖塔》的6个种族分别是红卫人（Redguard）、布莱顿人（Breton）、诺德人（Nord）、高精灵（High Elf）、暗精灵（Dark Elf）和木精灵（Wood Elf）。兽人（Orc）、帝国人（Imperial）直到《上古卷轴3：晨风》，才首次作为可扮演角色亮相。而前作的亚龙人（Argonian）和虎人（Khajiit）未在本作登场，也许是因为帝国人存在种族歧视，战斗法师不收虎人（偷窃）与亚龙人（走私、贩毒）。
³ 译者注：除了休息、金钱、商店外，本作也没有城镇、支线任务、经验条、法术自定义机制、制作物品机制、修理机制、偷窃、公会等等。
⁴ 译者注：梅鲁涅斯大兖，Mehrunes Dagon，是象征毁灭、变革、能量、野心的魔神。掌握烈火，地震和洪水等天灾之力，是凶名赫赫的杀戮与背叛之神。